Athletics and Indian Athletes: Events and Facts
Athletics notes for competitive exams: track, field and combined events, fixed distances and implement weights, governing bodies and the Indian athletes papers ask.
By GK24 Editorial Team· Published · 4 min read
Athletics is the oldest group of sports in the Olympic programme and the widest: running, jumping, throwing and walking, contested on a track, in a field and on the road. Papers call it track and field, and the questions are of four kinds — the distance or weight fixed for an event, the body that governs the sport, the terms of its rules, and the Indian names attached to famous performances. Because the numbers in athletics do not move, the topic is pure marks for a candidate who has learnt the tables once.
What athletics covers
The sport is divided into track events, run on the oval; field events, in which an athlete jumps or throws; combined events, which score several disciplines together; and road events such as the marathon and race walking. A standard outdoor track measures 400 metres along its inner lane and normally has eight lanes, so a 100-metre race is run on the straight and a 400-metre race is exactly one lap.
Track events at a glance
| Group | Events | Point to remember |
|---|---|---|
| Sprints | 100 m, 200 m, 400 m | Run entirely from starting blocks; a false start means disqualification |
| Middle distance | 800 m, 1500 m | The 1500 m is called the metric mile |
| Long distance | 5000 m, 10,000 m | Started from a curved line, not from blocks |
| Hurdles | 110 m for men, 100 m for women, 400 m for both | Ten hurdles in each of these races |
| Steeplechase | 3000 m | Twenty-eight barrier jumps and seven water jumps in all |
| Relays | 4 x 100 m, 4 x 400 m | The baton must change hands inside a 30-metre take-over zone |
| Marathon | 42.195 km | Equal to 26 miles and 385 yards, run on the road |
Field events and the weight of the implements
Field events are of two sorts. In the jumps an athlete measures distance or height; in the throws the implement's weight is fixed by the rules, and those weights are asked directly.
| Event | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| Shot put | 7.26 kg | 4 kg |
| Discus throw | 2 kg | 1 kg |
| Hammer throw | 7.26 kg | 4 kg |
| Javelin throw | 800 g | 600 g |
The jumps are the long jump and the triple jump, measured for distance, and the high jump and pole vault, measured for height. The combined events are the decathlon, ten events held over two days for men, and the heptathlon, seven events for women.
Who governs athletics
The world body was founded in 1912 as the International Amateur Athletic Federation, later the International Association of Athletics Federations, and since 2019 it has been called World Athletics. Its headquarters is in Monaco. In India the sport is run by the Athletics Federation of India, formed in 1946. Athletics has been held at every modern Olympic Games since Athens in 1896, and the World Athletics Championships were held for the first time in 1983 at Helsinki.
Indian athletes examiners ask about
| Athlete | Why the name is remembered |
|---|---|
| Norman Pritchard | Won two silver medals at the 1900 Paris Olympics, in the 200 m and the 200 m hurdles, listed in Olympic records under India |
| Milkha Singh | The Flying Sikh; finished fourth in the 400 m final at the 1960 Rome Olympics and won the 440 yards gold at the 1958 Cardiff Commonwealth Games |
| Gurbachan Singh Randhawa | Fifth in the 110 m hurdles final at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics |
| Kamaljeet Sandhu | Won the 400 m at the 1970 Bangkok Asian Games, the first Indian woman with an individual Asian Games gold |
| P. T. Usha | The Payyoli Express; missed the bronze in the 400 m hurdles at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics by one hundredth of a second and won four golds at the 1986 Seoul Asian Games |
| Anju Bobby George | Won the long jump bronze at the 2003 World Championships in Paris, India's first medal at a World Athletics Championships |
| Krishna Poonia | Won the discus throw gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi |
| Neeraj Chopra | Won the javelin gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, India's first Olympic gold in athletics, and the world title at Budapest in 2023 |
| Hima Das | The Dhing Express; won the 400 m at the 2018 World Under-20 Championships at Tampere, the first Indian gold in a track event at a world meet |
Rules and words used in the reports
- A false start now brings instant disqualification in every individual race.
- A photo finish camera separates athletes who cross the line together; times in sprints are read to a hundredth of a second.
- In the relays, dropping the baton does not disqualify a team, but changing it outside the take-over zone does.
- A long jump is a foul if any part of the foot crosses the front edge of the take-off board.
- In the throws, the athlete must stay inside the circle, and the implement must land within the marked sector.
- Each athlete gets six attempts in a throwing or horizontal jumping final, with three for the leaders after the first round in most meets.
Exam Point of View
Questions from athletics fall into four sets. First, fixed numbers: the marathon distance, the steeplechase distance, the number of hurdles, the weights of the shot, discus, hammer and javelin, and the count of events in the decathlon and heptathlon. Second, the governing bodies and their seats, where Monaco for World Athletics is regularly confused with Lausanne for the International Olympic Committee. Third, nicknames and firsts: the Flying Sikh, the Payyoli Express, the Dhing Express, the first Olympic gold in athletics, the first World Championships medal. Fourth, the sorting of an event into track or field, where the steeplechase and the hurdles are the planted traps. A safe habit is to attach every Indian name to one year and one event, because papers swap Milkha Singh's 1960 fourth place with Randhawa's 1964 fifth place and Hima Das's flat 400 metres with Usha's 400 metres hurdles.
Important Facts
| Marathon distance | 42.195 km, that is 26 miles and 385 yards |
|---|---|
| Half marathon | 21.0975 km |
| Steeplechase | 3000 m, with 28 barrier jumps and 7 water jumps |
| Hurdles races | 110 m for men, 100 m for women and 400 m for both, ten hurdles each |
| Relay take-over zone | 30 metres |
| Men's and women's javelin | 800 g and 600 g |
| Shot put | 7.26 kg for men, 4 kg for women |
| Discus | 2 kg for men, 1 kg for women |
| Decathlon and heptathlon | Ten events for men, seven events for women |
| World Athletics | Founded 1912, renamed 2019, headquarters at Monaco |
| Athletics Federation of India | Formed in 1946 |
| First World Athletics Championships | 1983, at Helsinki |
| First Olympic gold for India in athletics | Neeraj Chopra, javelin throw, Tokyo 2020 |
| First Indian woman with an individual Asian Games gold | Kamaljeet Sandhu, 400 m, Bangkok 1970 |
Practice MCQs on this topic
In which of the following sports of Tokyo Olympic 2020, Neeraj Chopra won the gold medal?
- A.Javelin throw
- B.Badminton
- C.Tennis
- D.Weight lifting
Show answer
Neeraj Chopra won the men's javelin throw at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, which were held in 2021, and that medal was India's first Olympic gold in athletics and its first individual gold since shooting in 2008.
Read the full explanation →What is the standard distance of a marathon race?
- A.40 km
- B.42.195 km
- C.45 km
- D.50 km
Show answer
A marathon is run over 42.195 kilometres, which is exactly 26 miles and 385 yards. The odd figure was fixed at the London Olympics of 1908, when the course was extended to finish in front of the royal box, and it became the official distance a few years later.
Read the full explanation →Which Indian athlete was popularly known as the Flying Sikh?
- A.Gurbachan Singh Randhawa
- B.Milkha Singh
- C.Sriram Singh
- D.Joginder Singh
Show answer
He earned the name in Pakistan after beating the home favourite at a meet in Lahore, and it stayed with him.
Read the full explanation →The Indian athlete P. T. Usha is popularly called
- A.Dhing Express
- B.Payyoli Express
- C.Golden Girl of Kerala
- D.Udan Pari
Show answer
P. T. Usha comes from Payyoli in the Kozhikode district of Kerala, and her speed on the track earned her the name of her village.
Read the full explanation →How many events make up the decathlon?
- A.Seven
- B.Eight
- C.Ten
- D.Twelve
Show answer
The word decathlon is built from the Greek deca, meaning ten, and athlon, meaning contest. It is a men's combined event held over two days, and its ten disciplines take in sprints, hurdles, the middle-distance 1500 metres, jumps and throws.
Read the full explanation →The steeplechase in athletics is run over a distance of
- A.1500 metres
- B.2000 metres
- C.3000 metres
- D.5000 metres
Show answer
The Olympic steeplechase is a 3000-metre race in which runners clear solid barriers and a water jump on every lap.
Read the full explanation →Who was the first Indian athlete to win a medal at the World Athletics Championships?
- A.P. T. Usha
- B.Anju Bobby George
- C.Neeraj Chopra
- D.Hima Das
Show answer
She took the bronze in the long jump at the 2003 World Championships at Paris, and that was the first medal India won at a senior World Athletics Championships.
Read the full explanation →What is the weight of the javelin used in men's competition?
- A.600 grams
- B.700 grams
- C.800 grams
- D.1 kilogram
Show answer
The rules fix the men's javelin at a minimum of 800 grams with a length of about 2.6 to 2.7 metres, while the women's javelin weighs 600 grams and is shorter.
Read the full explanation →The headquarters of World Athletics, the global governing body of the sport, is located at
- A.Lausanne
- B.Monaco
- C.Zurich
- D.Paris
Show answer
The body was founded in 1912 as the International Amateur Athletic Federation, became the International Association of Athletics Federations, and was renamed World Athletics in 2019.
Read the full explanation →In which event did Milkha Singh finish fourth at the 1960 Rome Olympic Games?
- A.200 metres
- B.400 metres
- C.800 metres
- D.110 metres hurdles
Show answer
Milkha Singh reached the 400 metres final at Rome in 1960 and finished fourth in a race so close that the first four all broke the existing Olympic mark.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following is a field event in athletics?
- A.110 metres hurdles
- B.4 x 400 metres relay
- C.Triple jump
- D.3000 metres steeplechase
Show answer
Field events are those in which an athlete jumps or throws rather than races, and the triple jump, with its hop, step and jump, is measured for distance in a sand pit.
Read the full explanation →Hima Das won a gold medal at the 2018 World Under-20 Athletics Championships in which event?
- A.100 metres
- B.200 metres
- C.400 metres
- D.Long jump
Show answer
Hima Das, who comes from Dhing in Assam and is called the Dhing Express, won the women's 400 metres at the World Under-20 Championships held at Tampere in Finland in 2018.
Read the full explanation →Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between a track event and a field event?
A track event is a race run on the oval or on the road and judged by time, such as the sprints, hurdles, steeplechase, relays and marathon. A field event is judged by a distance or a height, such as the long jump, high jump, pole vault, shot put, discus, hammer and javelin.
Why is the marathon 42.195 kilometres and not a round figure?
The course at the London Olympics of 1908 was lengthened so that the race could finish in front of the royal box, which made the distance 26 miles and 385 yards. That measurement was adopted as the standard and has stayed unchanged since.
Which Indian won the first Olympic gold medal in athletics?
Neeraj Chopra, in the men's javelin throw at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, held in 2021. Before him the best Indian results in Olympic athletics were fourth places by Milkha Singh in 1960 and P. T. Usha in 1984.
How many events are there in the decathlon and the heptathlon?
The decathlon has ten events and is contested by men over two days; the heptathlon has seven events and is the standard women's combined event. Both award points from a fixed scoring table, and the highest total wins.
What happens if a relay runner drops the baton?
Dropping the baton is not by itself a disqualification. The runner who dropped it may pick it up, provided no other athlete is obstructed. A team is disqualified if the baton is exchanged outside the 30-metre take-over zone.
Who are called the Payyoli Express and the Dhing Express?
P. T. Usha, from Payyoli in Kerala, is the Payyoli Express, and Hima Das, from Dhing in Assam, is the Dhing Express. Milkha Singh's nickname, the Flying Sikh, is usually asked along with these two.
Sources
- Disciplines and Competition Rules — World Athletics
- About the Federation — Athletics Federation of India
- Athletics at the Olympic Games — International Olympic Committee
